Textile process and product



Patented Dec. 19,

- TEXTILE PROCESS AND PRODUCT Robert N. Foster, Anniston, Ala., assignerto Monsanto Chemical Company, a corporation of Delaware No Drawing.Application November 28, 1940,

Serial No. 367,575

19 Claims. (Cl. 28-72.6)

This invention relates to an improved textile size and products producedtherewith.

An object of this invention is the provision of i a new sizing agent ofan inorganic nature which may be readily applied to textile bers andwhich may be easily removed therefrom by merely wash- '.ing with water.

My new size may be applied to ilbers of cotton, linen, ax', hemp, jute,ramie, the various rayons, staple or lament such. as viscose, acetateand cuprammonium or the various synthetic polymeric organic compoundsused as textile fibers gie nylon, vinyon, etc., including glass textileUsed as a size. my product is eiiective upon the yarns oi' the abovementioned iibers and others, for the purpose of laying the fiber ends,setting the twist and providing a coating to resist mechanical wear, andincrease strength particularly for the warp yarns used in weaving. i

My sizing compound is a phosphate of colloi nature and is composed ofthe metaphosphates of potassium and sodium having the general for-Phospates ol this series have the property of forming viscous aqueoussolutions of a colloidal nature, the viscosity of which may be varied bychanging the concentration. Apparently the coll loidal `particles arestrongly hydrated. As an example of the viscosity and speciiic gravityof aquei ous solutions oi these phosphates. 1.'. give the following datafor the KmadPOzh compound at Concentration specincgravity 1.008 1.041.075 1.125 1.175 1.25 asity -pois.. con cac 0.76 2.1 en 17s Thecolloidal 'phosphate solutions herein employed may'be prepared by thereaction' of KPO:

. with sodium chloride solution (the method described by Tammann) or bythe direct reaction 1 of KPC: and (NaPOsh according to the reactionz'mula KmNaw-m) (P03) where m may have a value of 2 or less, including`fractional values. There may also be present mixtures of the above Oneof the phosphates of the above type has lbeen described by Tammann inZeit fur prakt.

. maa-..1 (Poi).

where m may have a. value oi' 2 or less, including fractional values. Ananalysis of two members of this series will show the following chemicalcomposition:

1 Th for 'rh for.

KaNn 00| KiNalOc In thev application of these phosphates for the sizingof textile bers I prefer to make a 15% solution of the-phosphate and wetthe yarn in this solution: After removing the ber from the s0- lution.it; is dried and the phosphate then forms a transparent ilexiblenon-tacky film upon the fiber; this lays the liber ends. sets the twistand provides an abrasion resistant protective coating. The coated, driedyam, may hold from 15 to 20% by weight of phosphate, however the amountof Vphosphate carried by the yarn may be varied over f a wide range. Ingeneral from 1% to more than 39% by weight of phosphate may thusbeapplied. My size may be applied by means of a "slasher".

as currently used -in the silk or cotton textile mill practice. In thesemachines substantially the above process is carried out. and drying iseil'eeted either by means of heated rolls or by Aa current of warm air.

The sizing -bath employing my phosphates may Abe heated somewhatalthough in contrastwith the customary starch sizing baths it is notnecessary or desirable to heat the battito the boilingpoint. My size ispreferably applied cold, that is at room temperature to a temperatureof50 or C. under which conditions good penetrav tion is obtained uponviscose rayon. cupra ammonium rayon, degummed''ax or bleached cotton.Using raw cotton-or the non-absorbent fibers suchv as acetate rayon,nylon or vinyon it is preferable to employ a wetting agent in the siznsbath. While any type of wetting agent which will ture of the compoundsKoNoiobo ons K1Nas(PO3) s.

4. A method of processing cotton yarn comprising applying to said yarn asize` comprising a colloidal phosphate of the compositions KmNaw-miPOs)o in which m has a value of from 2 to 1, weaving said yarn upon a loomto produce woven goods, subsequently processing said woven goods bykiering with a water solution carrying A great advantage of my size isthat the size can be easily removed from the fibers by simple extractionusing either cold or warm water. Starch sizes on the other hand requiremore drastic treatments, for example, treatmentwith acids, alkalies orenzymes to remove the starch.

While'my phosphate size may be employed by itself and good resultsobtained, for special purposes I may add softeners or preservatives forAmildew prevention as is customaryl when applying commercial starchsizes.

Examples of softeners used with my size are sulfonated oils such ascastor or -olive oils or sulfonated waxes such as tallow, etc.

`l=freservatives suitable for mildewy prevention may bezinc chloride,pentachlorophenols, o-hydroxydiphenyls, etc.

If theproduction of sized goods is contemplated, the size neednotnecessarily be removed after weaving, in fact woven goods may befilled or sized using the colloidal phosphate size. If the goods are tobe kier boiledVthe phosphate will dissolve out from the fiber andfurthermore serves the purpose of a water-softener combining withthecalcum and magnesium hardness of processing water and rendering themharmless or innocuous during processing. During kiering it will alsoserve to prevent kier stains on the cloth as from iron, etc. yThephosphate size is also advantageously utilized in bleaching or in dyeingas'the deleterious effects of hard water causing stains or unevenvdyeing-are thereby eliminated, by virtue of a combination of the sizingphosphates with the calcium and magnesium hardv ness, usually present inthe water.

Paper sizes comprising casein and hexametaphosphates of sodium or otheralkali metals have been proposed, however in these earlier proposals,the hexametaph'osphate served as a solubilizing compound or emulsifyingagent for the casein. In my invention the double metaphosphates ofsodium and potassium, that is where both sodium and potassium arecontained in a f'single molecule oi the metaphosphate, are employed perse as sizing agents.

What I claim is:

l. A method -of processing textile warp yarns comprising treating saidyarns with a 4colloidal y solution of a phosphate of the composition:

KmNa om POs e in which m has a value of from 2 to 1, to apply a sizethereon, weaving said yarn onta loom to produce woven goods, treatingsaid goods subsequently with water containing calcium and magnesiumhardness, whereby said calcium and magnesium hardness is renderedinnocuous by reaction with said` size, and the size simultaneouslyremoved from said warp yarn.

2. The process dened in claim 1 in which the colloidal phosphateemployed as a size is a compound selectedfrom the vclass consisting of3. The .process dened in claim 1 in which the f calcium and magnesiumhardness, whereby said size is removed from the goods and is combinedwith said calcium and magnesium hardness to 2 to 1,weaving said yarnupon 'a loom to produce woven goods, thereupon dyeing said woven goodsin a water solution containing calcium and magnesium hardness, wherebysaid size is removed by said dye bath and combined with said calcium andmagnesium hardness, preventing combination thereof with said dye.

6. A -textile yarn suitable for warp threads comprising spun fiberscarrying a transparent flexible, water soluble film of Tammannsdipotassium tetrasodium hexametaphosphate.

7. A textile yarn suitable for use as a warp thread in weavingcomprising spun fibers carrying a transparent, flexible. water solublefilm of the salt: KmNa'-m) (P03) o in which m has a value of from 2 to1.

8. A process of treating ber for the production of a size thereon,comprising wetting said ber with a colloidal solution of a compoundselected from the class consisting of KoNaIAPOalo and KiNas (P03) o.

9. A method of treating textile warp yarns comprising sizing said yarnswith a colloidal -1o. 'rho method donned in oioim 9 wherein o.

15% solution of the phosphate is employed in sizing the yarns.

11. The method denedin claim 9 wherein the woven goods are subsequentlytreated with water containing. calcium and magnesium hardness,

whereby said calcium and magnesium hardness is rendered innocuous byreaction with said size, and the size is simultaneously removed fromsaid warp yarn.

12. A method 0f processing textile warp yarns comprising sizing saidyarns with a colloidal solution of mixed phosphates of potassium andsodium varying in composition according to the formula:KmNato-miPOaawhere m represents a value varying from a positivefractional value to a value of 2.

13. The method defined in claim 12 in which m represents a value of from2 to 1.

14. A method of processing textile ibers coinprising sizing said berswith a colloidal solution of a phosphate having a stoichiometriccomposition expressed by the formula: KmNa(om)(POa)e. in which m has avalue of 2 to 1 and drying the product thus formed.

15. A method of sizing textile ilbers comprising immersing said fibersin a` bath containing a colloidal solution of a phosphate having astoichiometric Acomposition expressed by the formula:

the bath contains as a wetting agent, a sodium salt of an alkyla'tedaromatic sulfonic acid hav ,ing from 8 to 16 carbon atoms in the alkylchain.

19. A textile ber carrying a transparent ex- KmNa(s-m (POa)u, inwhich mhas a. value of 2 to 1.

16. The method denned in claim i5 wherein the bath contains a wettingagent.

5 ible lm of a phosphate having a stoichiw-- metric compositionexpressed by the formula.:

hich m has a value of 2 to 1.v

ROBERT N. FOSTER.

